The Increased Relevance of Data Visualization
It is no understatement to say that we live in an age where you can access a fairly large amount of data. But looking at rows and rows of numbers is vastly different from culling relevant information and constructing a story around that.
This is where data visualization plays a crucial role. Through data visualization, complex ideas can be made simple, allowing you to explore every dimension, which static charts simply cannot provide.
Data visualization is not an entirely new concept, having been around for hundreds of years. But with the acceleration of technology and growth, now, more than ever, its role in business has become more important.
The increased prominence of data visualization can be attributed to the fact that there are limitations to the capacity of the human brain to process information. Using data visualization, you can convey concepts easily while exploring different scenarios by varying a few factors.
For this vital task, you cannot rely on your usual suite of desktop software. You will need specialized analytics software.
Such software will allow you to connect every available data, whether it is encoded in a spreadsheet, Hadoop, cloud or any other platform. With just one click, you can access every data that you have without learning how to write code. But apart from the ease of combining and analyzing data into tangible information, such a software should allow you to explore and experiment with different scenarios which you can use to make informed forecasts.
Apart from helping you weave together all available data, this software will allow you to detect new trends and uncover stories hiding in plain sight. In turn, this will allow you to identify potential opportunities and guide you in the decision-making process with greater confidence.
But apart from helping you and key decision-makers in your organization, this software also makes it easier for your stakeholders to grasp, digest and understand complex data.
Data blending is another key feature to look for in an analytic software as this allows you to blend disparate data sources with just one click of a mouse button. This allows your data to tell different variations of a story.
It is also helpful if the software allows you to take data either offline or in-memory. The data engine should allow you to extract massive amounts of data in just a few seconds on your laptop.
Finally, the software should allow you to share and transmit the data and your analysis in a safe and secure manner.